Aconitum
by AbbyGraceReynolds
Summary: Sam and Dean are sent to Parker City Indiana to figure out why people are dying from a mysterious illness. It seems to be just another routine hunt, until one of the brothers receives the illness himself, and things quickly spiral out of control. No cure. No clue. Death is inevitable.
1. Chapter 1

"Man, I just need a beer," Dean Winchester mumbled as he and his brother Sam walked through the woods of Parker City Indiana.

Sam rolled his eyes, "First, we figure out what's killing people in these woods. Then you can get a drink."

The Winchester brothers recently found an article in the newspaper stating that many folks in the small town of Parker City were going into the woods, catching a rare sickness, and then quickly dying.

That statement alone did not appear to have anything paranormal involved, but later in the paper the writer said their skin would turn dark grey, and black, vein like streaks would appear on their bodies; top to bottom.

The boys figured they should check it out.

"Sam, we've been walking through these woods for hours. It's past midnight. I say we head back to the motel, rest, and start looking again in the morning."

Sam was about to reply, when he fell forward, and landed with a thud on the ground.

"Well what did you do that for?" Dean asked as he helped his brother up.

Sam grunted and he got back to his feet, "Dude, it's not like I did it on purpose. Something tripped me."

Dean took his flashlight and shined it on the ground.

"Heh, Sammy. I hate to you tell you this, but I am pretty sure you just tripped over those clown feet."

"I'm telling you, I did not. It was a vine or something. It even had thorns! Look at my leg."

Sure enough, Sam's leg shined with fresh blood.

"Damn, must have been one huge thorn if it's going to tear a hole through your pants. See, we need to rest up and come back in the morning when we have more light and.. Balance." Dean shrugged.

Sam glanced down at his leg and back at Dean.

"Fine, you win. But we're getting an early start tomorrow."

"Great," Dean grinned, walking back towards the car. "Time to go count some sheep."

Sam sighed, all of a sudden filled with exhaustion, and followed behind his brother.


	2. Chapter 2

"Wake up, Princess."

Sam blinked lazily and looked up to see Dean standing over him.

"Dean? What time is it?"

"Well, Sleeping Beauty, it's 9:00 o'clock. Is this the early start you wanted?"

Sam quickly jumped out of the motel bed and dug through his bag for fresh clothes.

"Why didn't you wake me, Dean? You've obviously been dressed and ready for a while."

"I actually tried to wake you a couple of times. Even felt for a pulse at one point. I figured we needed you to feel well rested today anyways."

"Well, I guess I am since it's friggin 9:00!" Sam growled.

Truth be told, he felt horrible. Like he hadn't slept in a year. He figured he would just get a cup of Joe in him and be able to pull himself together.

"Sammy, you have some pretty dark circles under your eyes. You feel okay?"

"Dean, I am sure I always have them there. You and I don't exactly get the recommended eight hours of sleep each night."

"Alright, Sam. I'm just saying you don't look right."

"Well, you've always been the more attractive brother. But I appreciate you pointing that out."

Dean gave a short laugh.

"Alright, well how about I go get you some coffee. Just be ready when I get back"

Sam nodded, "Great."

After Dean left, Sam looked at himself in the mirror. He did, in fact, look bad. Though, he knew he had to go out and look for what was killing folks. He could put off his appearance and exhaustion for a little while, right?

** **My chapters are short, and I apologize. However, I plan to upload each one quickly.****


	3. Chapter 3

"You hearing me, Sammy?"

"What?"

Sam and Dean were currently driving back to the woods to begin the search for whatever was hurting the people in the small town of Indiana, and Sam was just doing whatever it took to stay awake.

"Okay, you're obviously not hearing me." Dean mumbled.

"No, I am. Keep going."

"I just asked you a question if you were listening, you have answered it."

Sam yawned,

"I am sorry, Dean. Just repeat the question."

Dean stared at Sam for a few seconds then began to ask his question,

"Well, I just haven't seen anything like this before. I was wondering if you were gathering any more information on what we're looking at. To be completely honest, I'm clueless."

Sam picked up his coffee cup, and took a long sip before answering,

"Well, I think we need to talk to the victim's families before we just throw ourselves back into the woods. The medical examiner didn't give us any information on the victims, other than what was seen inside of them. We need to get the whole story."

Dean nodded.

"Well give me an address and I'll get us there."

Sam looked down at some of the notes he was holding and did what he was told.

"Yeah, my husband was deer hunting for the day. He told me we could have..alone time once he got back." The victim's wife said slowly.

Dean cleared his throat,

"Okay..well, what happened after that? Not the sex part..just..was he acting weird?"

The wife blushed,

"Well, he just came home and was acting highly irritated. He said he just prefered to go to bed. That's not weird though. You know hunters, they get disappointed when they don't get something. I just let him go to bed."

Sam, who was sitting next to Dean, spoke up.

"What was his attitude like following that?"

The wife thoughts for a minute.

"Irritated. He didn't look very good after the hunt, but I just thought he was tired. He got up so early to go hunting. I knew it would eventually catch up to him.

Dean looked at Sam out of the corner of his eye.

"Did it start with dark circles under his eyes, but then his skin started to turn grey?"

Sam looked at Dean with a glimpse of worry in his eye.

"Oh yeah! So once his skin started turning grey, I suggested he saw the doctor. He told me no and said he just wanted to sleep. I called my friend who was a nurse, and told her I was worried. She said to get him checked out as soon as possible. He fought me and wouldn't leave the bed. I then had to go on a short mandatory trip for work. I begged my husband to go to the doctor before I left. He actually told me he would, however..when I got back from my trip I found him dead on the floor. His skin was not only grey, but he had black streaks covering his body."

The woman choked back a sob.

"It was horrible."

Dean leaned forward and patted the woman's leg.

"I know this is hard, but I need you to tell me if anything else was weird when he returned from his hunt."

The woman sniffled.

"Well, okay. I guess there was this one thing. He hurt his leg on a thorn or something. It was bleeding pretty bad when he got home. But that probably isn't important. Indiana woods have briar patches and stuff everywhere."

Dean cleared his throat.

"No, no. You're very helpful. My partner and I need to go now, but we appreciate you talking to us."

Dean shot Sam a look as they got up from the couches. This hunt just got a lot more personal.


End file.
